"Once you’ve slept in the shadow of the San Jacinto Mountains you are bound to return." — Cahuilla Indian saying

Terry and I have been enjoying the reboot of Murphy Brown as we were both big fans of the original series. It’s great fun for us left-liberal types.

The first episode was so funny from beginning to end that I had tears in my eyes. The appearance by Hillary Clinton (more than a cameo, really) was priceless. The second episode was a funny story about Murphy, banned from the current White House, finding a way to crash a press briefing. But it had a serious side in that her actions derailed her son, a reporter at a rival network, from being able to ask his planned question. Episode three was a balanced look at the #metoo movement with some funny moments. Last week’s episode in advance of today’s mid-terms was most appropriate and very well done.

I don’t know that we’re going to get more than the initial thirteen episodes as the ratings have been less than stellar, but Terry and I are enjoying it while we have it.

This week I am remembering that it’s been fifty years since the assassination of Robert Kennedy. I wrote about this on Wednesday. That brought to mind Dion’s classic song. Robert isn’t included in the title, but he is remembered in tear-inducing final words of the song.

Has anybody here seen my old friend Bobby,
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
I thought I saw him walkin’ up over the hill
With Abraham, Martin and John.

I always knew that my friend the Boston Pobble has a big heart. I first met her through her blog, Pobble Thoughts, which, sadly, she has discontinued. She lived an itinerant life for many years, but recently settled in her beloved Boston with her husband, the helicopter pilot Lithus.

You would not expect the terms “big heart” and “Super Tuesday” to go together, but they very much did this year in Boston. Pobble was the agent for what happened. Pobble’s mother, who blogs under the name Tahoe Mom, tells the story.

It is 30 seconds before the polls are to close. Pobble goes outside to see if there are any stragglers who need to come in. There is one couple. They are new US citizens from a war-torn African country. They know it is important that they vote. They want to vote. And they are not sure for what they are voting. Pobble says, “I need you both inside that door right now.” They go while the clerk is calling “30 seconds – we have 30 seconds.” Pobble, walking behind them, waves to the policeman to let them in. They walk through the door and the officer closes it behind them, takes down the “vote here” sign and locks the door. Pobble sits them down and explains she now has time to answer their questions.

She explains that this the election where they vote on who they will vote for in November. All is well and Lithus hands them their ballots. The husband said, “She is blind. She cannot vote.” Whatever the reason, neither were expecting her to be able to vote. When Pobble said, “of course you can vote,” the big smiles began. Pobble sends the man with his ballot to the voting booth. She calls over the officer as a representative of the law and another clerk to witness. She tells the woman that there is a law officer standing there to witness that Pobble is marking the ballot as the woman says. She read the ballot to the woman, the woman told her whom to mark and Pobble said to the officer, “Do you witness that I am marking this ballot for __________.” He replied, “I witness that you are marking this ballot for ___________.” Both husband and wife were beaming. Not only had they mattered, their vote had mattered and had been taken seriously in their new country. Pobble and I both agree that it is for stories like these that the poll watchers are there. We were given a Constitutional right to a free and honest election and there are people who care enough about that process that they give a day to lay aside their politics to make sure we all – old citizens, new citizens, all races and genders – all of us, get to mark our ballots or pull the levers for the candidate of our choice.

Thank you, Pobble. Thank you for doing your part in making the world a better place. And thank you Tahoe Mom for sharing this story with the world.

Way back in 2008 when John McCain selected his running mate those of us who a) followed (and still follow) politics, and b) whose political leanings were (and are) to the left of McCain’s were both scratching our heads and somewhat alarmed. Yes, there was a bit of begrudging appreciation that he selected a woman, but, really, that woman? The inexperienced governor of Alaska who was virtually unable to put together a coherent sentence? She would be next in line for the presidency were McCain to have won?

Now, eight years later, the remaining five contenders for the top spot on the Republican ticket present an apparition even more frightening than the woman whom Tina Fey on Saturday Night Live spoofed as having said, “I can see Russia from my house.”

There is Trump, first and foremost. What is there say? To quote Terry’s response these days in such situations, “Rēally?” Ted Cruz, so it appears, doesn’t think individuals with celiac disease should be in the military, or if they are, based on his comments regarding gluten-free MRE rations, apparently they are not entitled to diets to keep them healthy. Marco Rubio in 2013 said that if his own immigration bill contained something that gave gay couples immigration rights he would have opposed it. Ben Carson said the pyramids in Egypt were used to store grain.

Crazy.

Crazy enough that I got a big laugh at the Tweet below that my friend Annalee reposted on Facebook. Whether it’s The West Wing, True Blood, or Star Trek: The Next Generation, it’s easy to relate. As I commented on Annalee’s repost, “I don’t have a better explanation.”

It had been seeming very important to me that Hillary win the Democratic nomination, thinking that she had the best chance of beating whoever the Republican nominee might end up being. Turns out that’s not so. At least not on this day before the New Hampshire primary. A passing mention on CNN sent me over to my primary source for polls: Real Clear Politics.

Nationally, as of last Friday, both Clinton and Sanders had a lead over Trump, but Sanders held a larger lead. Clinton is tied with Cruz and trails Rubio. Sanders is ahead of Cruz and tied with Rubio.

Given that, my perspective right now: Let the primaries and conventions play themselves out, and then support like hell whoever the Democratic nominee turns out to be.

There is too much at stake here. If nothing else, two words: Supreme Court.

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Mike Christie

I live with my wife Terry and Tasha, our beagle-border terrier mix, in Hemet, which is in the San Jacinto Valley, on the eastern edge of Southern California's Inland Empire. I am actively working on developing a freelance writing and web content business. Details are on my web site:http://mikecwebandwriting.com/.

This blog is about the personal side of my life. I love my Kindle iPad app, cooking, watching cooking shows on television, and writing this blog. I am an Episcopalian and am happy to be a member of Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd here in Hemet.